Star Fox : ReGenesis
by Blaise McCloud
Summary: Picking up a year after the events of Star Fox 64, Re-Genesis follows a broken Team Star Fox - and their unlikely allies - as they try to unravel the mysteries surrounding a rogue division of the Cornerian Army.
1. Resurgence

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

"This is not a parody. It is not a slash-fic. This is my re-imagining of the Star Fox series, starting shortly after the events of Star Fox 64. Only material presented in the games Star Fox and Star Fox 64 is considered canon, though elements from other games may appear in different contexts.

"I hope you have as much fun reading this as I have had writing it! If there is enough demand, I have enough ideas (half a year's worth of overactive imagining) to carry this tale on for quite a while."

- B McC

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Resurgence**

"Bravo Squad is being pushed back!"

"This is Alpha Squad! Some kind of weapon just emerged from the flagship."

"Six of them broke through the barrier! They've entered the upper atmosphere!"

"It looks like a… No, an ion cannon that size wouldn't be stable."

"Echo here. We're taking too much fire. Requesting backup!"

"ION CANNON CONFIRMED! Alpha Squad, evacu-"

A bright flash of blue erupted near one of Titan's moons, but only the sound of static reached General Pepper's ears. He stared solemnly at the radar projection as the blue dots representing Alpha Squad blinked out of existence. Strangely enough, nearly the same number of red dots vanished with them; the cannon's malfunction carved a perfect sphere out of the battlefield.

"Activate debris shields."

A force field enveloped the Cornerian Command ship just before the remnants of several dozen fighter ships could reach the hull.

"Charlie Squad, head to Echo's position immediately."

"Roger that, General."

None of it made sense. In the year that had passed since Andross failed to conquer the Lylat System, the madman's leftover forces had never joined together like this. They were rebels, warriors without a cause, whose cleanup was barely a nuisance to the Cornerian Army. But just last week the remaining divisions of this ragtag army began converging on a single spot…

"Have the surface scans revealed anything yet?"

"No sir. The weather seems to be causing too much interference. We still don't know what they're after."

Why Titan? The entire planet was barren, save for a handful of military-sponsored research stations. Something had to be hidden down there. Something important enough to revive a dead man's army. Maybe something that could even revive a –"

"General! This is bad!" The scream from the lower deck of the command station forcefully derailed Pepper's train of thought. He directed his gaze toward the main viewing screen, which was showing a live feed from the outer rim of the battlefield. Three red streaks were skillfully dodging debris and heading toward the hole left by the ion cannon.

"Dammit! What are THEY doing here?!" They were supposed to have died during the Battle of Venom… They crashed onto the surface of a planet literally made of poison… But there they were, breaking straight through the heart of the skirmish.

"Well, that's hardly an appropriate greeting, General," replied a smooth voice from the open channel.

"We're here for payback!" screeched a second voice.

"Shut up, you two," growled the third. Pepper's ears perked suddenly. There was no doubting it: Star Wolf was alive.

"Don't mind us, Corneria," continued Wolf O'Donnell in a calmer voice, heavy with sarcasm. "As long as you don't interfere –"

The trio let loose a flurry of lasers into a formation of Cornerian fighters, obliterating them before they had a chance to counter.

"we'll just find what we're after and be on our way."

One Wolfen cut off from the group and sped toward a large satellite. Shit, thought Pepper, that's the shield generator Alpha was guarding! If that gets taken out, Andross's forces could head straight for the surface!

"Can't let you do that, Star Wolf."

Suddenly a green beam crashed into the Wolfen, shattering one of its four wings. Pepper's eyes widened in shock… but then he let out a soft chuckle. "Took ya long enough," he barked into a speaker. "My hands are a bit full, can you handle these guys?"

Four small ships rocketed toward the fray, and a giant, instantly-recognizable silhouette followed behind them. Fox McCloud took his thumb off the trigger button and grabbed the accelerator.

"Sure thing. Star Fox… Let's go!"


	2. Clash of the Titans

"Hopefully by the time you are reading this, the first 3 chapters will already be up. And, if I'm lucky and have enough time, the forum should be started before I post chapter 4. Please visit and let me know what you think! I'm especially open to critiques. I'll be the first to admit my writing is flawed.

"If there are any outstanding questions about Chapter (n), let me know in the forum and I'll try to address them in the author's note for Chapter (n+1).

"Also, I'll be using the forum for SFRG to gauge how interested the community is in this story, so I'll know whether or not I should stick with it. That being said, enjoy!"

-B McC

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Clash of the Titans**

"Star Fox, eh?" quipped Leon Powalski, a manic chameleon rumored to have joined Star Wolf just so he could be paid to murder. "I think I'm going to enjoy this."

"The frog's mine!" yelled Andrew Oikonny, nephew of the infamous Andross – and living proof that intelligence is not genetic. "You know what Venom smells like?!"

"You know what YOU smell like?" retorted Falco Lombardi. He ran one hand over his head to smooth out some feathers, used the other hand to lock the accelerator locked at maximum, and kept his Arwing's control yoke steady with his right foot. "I'll take this one, Slip. Lizard boy's old news."

"I dunno about that…" croaked Slippy Toad. He let one hand off the controls just briefly enough to wipe some sweat off his forehead and readjust his cap – titling his Arwing 45 degrees in the process. "I don't know any of this guy's moves and - "

"I'll cover ya, Slippy," chuckled Peppy Hare. "And Falco, knock off the stupid stunts!" The oldest member of the team sent a very father-like glare toward Falco, who muttered something about an "old-timer" and took proper hold of the controls.

Just three of them… unless the fourth is hiding out somewhere. No, that's not his style… Despite his focused appearance, Fox McCloud was completely lost in thought. Was Pigma really…?

An all-too familiar voice came over Fox's radio and brought him back to the battle: "Long time, no see, pup. Hate to break it to ya, but since I'm still alive our last match was a draw."

Wolf could barely keep the excitement out of his voice. So that was Star Fox that clipped his wing? A match with a couple dozen Cornerian units was all right, but a match with the one man he could ever consider an equal – well, not equal, but good enough – was sure to get the adrenaline pumping. "Hey, Commander, you'll have to take care of the satellite yourselves. My team's heading to the surface." The compact Wolfen would have a much easier time breaking through the barrier than Andross's massive gunships.

"We had a deal you -!" Wolf cut off the transmission and steered his ship straight toward Titan.

"Leon! Andrew! We're going on ahead!"

The three Wolfen blasted through the Cornerian shield and disappeared into the atmosphere. All four Arwings followed closely behind.

"Fox, we won't be able to communicate with you once you enter Titan! For now, focus on stopping Star Wolf at all costs!" General Pepper's voice had grown noticeably hopeful.

"Yes sir!" Fox's Arwing began to rattle as it dove through the dense gases.

"And be on the lookout for any… ng that may… krchkx … dross…"

"Signal lost. The radar's a bit shaky, but Star Wolf is definitely straight ahead." Slippy's voice carried a noticeable amount of panic. His last visit to Titan had been… memorable.

"I can see the surface!" shouted Falco. Sure enough, the dense fog broke to reveal the wide canyons and vast stretches of blood-red sand that characterized the face of Titan. "Bogies at 12 o'clock!"

The Wolfen split up. One leveled off several hundred feet from the surface and shook clumsily in the rough winds; "I got 'im," said Falco, correctly identifying the pilot. The second Wolfen took cover inside of a sandstorm; Peppy and Slippy took chase.

Of course, thought Fox. Of course he would pick the canyon. He chased after the last Wolfen, which had decided to brave the rocky pillars and treacherous winds of a wide crack in the earth. Unable to lock onto his opponent from above, Fox flew in after him.

…

Fox yanked the yoke to the right, just barely dodging a pile of rocks Wolf had shot down from the canyon's lip. "You're almost getting good at this, pup," smirked Wolf. Fox ignored the comment and fired a charged laser; Wolf dodged with relative ease, but the laser obliterated a stone column. The "pup" cussed to himself and wove through the rocks he had just caused to fall.

That Wolfen is missing a wing… He shouldn't have this much control over his ship. The thoughts ran furiously through Fox's head. How was he this far behind? Didn't he win the last fight?

"Heh, looks like the fun is over." If Wolf hadn't spoken out, Fox would have crashed right into the end of the canyon. He pulled the Arwing up and just barely cleared the edge of the crack.

"The fun's just beginning, Wolf. How about we settle this?"

Wolf did not reply. He didn't even notice Fox had said anything. Because right in front of Wolf was a massive temple, just like the ones he had seen on Venom.

And all around him were hundreds of alien ships.


	3. High CARD Wins

"Interesting anecdote: Calvin from Bill Watterson's _Calvin and Hobbes_ (best comic ever) wrote the words "Hey Jet Pilots! **Do a Barrel Roll!**" in the snow in one of the strips published quite a few years before Star Fox 64 was released.

"I mention this because the barrel roll returns in this chapter, in all of its glory.

"Also because I love _Calvin and Hobbes_ and am definitely going to involve a tiger character in SFRG at some point."

- B McC

* * *

**Chapter 3 – High CARD Wins**

Fox's jaw dropped. As he rose out of the canyon, his field of vision was obscured by hundreds of fighters. But they definitely were not Cornerian… and he had never seen Andross use this kind before…

Each ship was composed of a single black sphere, about half the size of Fox's Arwing. Orbiting each sphere were several propulsion devices and what Fox thought were laser-blasters.

Yeah, definitely blasters! Fox double-tapped a button on the back of the yoke, instantly sending his ship into a barrel roll as dozens of lasers streaked toward him. The Arwing's most innovative feature – an electromagnetic field generated by the ship's rapid rotation – easily deflected the attacks. Wolf, in the meantime, fired several shots at the nearest ship, only to learn they were quite well-shielded. Still, he could dodge their attacks fairly easily. Not everyone was so lucky…

"Slippy's hit!"

"Dammit Slippy!"

"Shut up, Falco! What the hell are these things?"

"Peppy! Are… you guys… all right?" Fox had to ask in between dodges.

"Hell no!" replied Falco – who is not at all Peppy – "Stupid monkey led me straight into these things. It was some kind of trap!"

"I'm just as trapped as you are, stupid bird!" shot back Andrew, also surrounded by strange black spheres. As far as Fox could tell, Leon was in the same position.

"Wolf, what is this?" demanded Fox. The spheres were amazingly agile, and they could shoot in any direction. Despite Fox's best efforts, he had taken several hits.

This might be what they hired us to find, thought Wolf. "How the $&!% am I supposed to know?" he replied. Several lasers hit his right flank simultaneously, leaving him with only one wing on each side.

More black spheres flew out of the temple.

"I can't take any more!"

They swarmed both teams, nearly blocking out all light.

"My G-Diffuser just busted!"

Just as quickly as the light vanished, it reappeared in the form of deadly plasma blasts.

"Pull out! Pull out!"

Fox's head banged against the controls… when his vision returned, he saw one of the spheres aiming a blaster right at him.

And then it was blown away by a strange purple beam.

_Targets identified. Eliminate the defense droids, Priority 1. Eliminate Team Star Wolf, Priority 2. Defend Team Star Fox, Priority *Th-xgxz* Zero._

More purple blasts. Hundreds of them, aimed precisely at the cores of the black speres, easily penetrating their shields. Soon the cloud surrounding Fox was dissipated, and he could see the other members of his team were safe.

Countless white ships, each bearing the Cornerian insignia, had come to their aid. They had even attached themselves to the Arwings and were guiding them to the surface. But they were only a quarter of the size of the standard Cornerian ship… much too small to carry a pilot.

"Commander McCloud, this is Lieutenant Ford of the Cornerian Army Research Division."

Fox saw his reflection in the window of his cockpit and noticed his head was bleeding.

"We are escorting you to safety."

And his reflection was blurry… and spinning… and getting darker…

"Your services are no longer needed."


	4. Aftermath

"I'm pretty happy with the way this is going so far. I'll go as far as chapter 10 within the next few weeks, and then see how much demand there is for more.

"If you want to discuss/comment on this series, just visit **.net/myforums/Blaise_McCloud/2255434/**. You might need a account, but those take three seconds to set up.

"Hope to see ya there!"

-B McC

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Aftermath**

Two years have passed since Star Fox's crushing defeat at the infamous Battle of Titan. Despite the team's failure to destroy the secret weapon – which the military dubbed "ORB" – that Andross's forces were attempting to reclaim, the Artificial Intelligence Unit led by Colonel Ford (then Lieutenant Colonel Ford) was able to clean up the mess and lead Corneria to victory.

Of the three remaining members of Star Wolf, only Andrew Oikonny, nephew to Andross himself, was captured during the fray. He is currently being held in a maximum-security site on the campus of the Cornerian Army HQ.

Wolf O'Donnell and Leon Powalski have not been seen since, and remain two of the Army's most wanted criminals.

Due to several factors – mainly their humiliating defeat and their incompetence compared to AI Units – the Star Fox team disbanded a month after the incident.

Peppy Hare, a close friend of General Pepper and an ex-officer in the Army, returned to the military as a Major General. He commanded the troops that took down the last of Andross's forces in Sector Z and currently serves on the Generals' Council.

Slippy Toad returned to his home planet of Aquas to pursue a career in R&D. As of now, he is employed in the Aquas Weapon and Vehicle Utilization Lab. His position or duties, however, are classified.

As for the remaining members of the team, the bold Fox McCloud and the hot-headed Falco Lombardi, neither has been seen in nearly twenty months. Some rumors say they have fled Lylat altogether. Others claim the two have joined O'Donnell and Powalski as members of Star Wolf. Still others maintain the two have become agents in a top-secret division of the Cornerian Army.

But the question still remains, where are they no-

"Turn that damn thing off!"

Fox hurled a wrench at the television set as he came into the garage. Every week, it was the same stupid report…

"Did you even hear me? Why is the TV on if you're not even watching it?"

"You say som'thin'?" Falco pulled his head out of the hood of a decrepit hovercar. Grease and oil covered his hands and clothes. Headphones covered his ears. "Oh, look! We're on TV!" Unable to hear the narrator's condescending tone, Falco naturally assumed he was being praised.

"Yeah, yeah." Fox switched off the set. "Are you finished yet? That customer is going to be here any minute."

"Or right now," said Falco, looking over Fox's shoulder. Fox spun around to see two rats – presumably one male, one female, each about half his height – walking into the repair shop, squeaking rapidly in a foreign language.

"Mr. and Mrs. G, how are you? You car is…" He glanced quickly at Falco, who shrugged, "…going to take a bit longer to fix."

"Itz fixt!?" excitedly squawked Mr. G (at least the first letter in his name _looked_ like a G…).

"No, no, no, sorry. We need a bit more time. If you could come by this afternoon, -"

BANG!

"Evening," coughed Falco. The engine was now smoking.

Fox made no attempt to correct himself. The couple was already screaming at him in words he had no hope of understanding. To his ears' relief and wallet's woe, they suddenly turned and stormed out of the garage, shouting a word Fox had heard often enough to know was an insult.

"There goes this month's energy bill…" sighed Falco. "You think they're coming back, or should I even bother fixin' this?"

Ignoring him entirely, Fox walked up to an old motorcycle in the corner and pretended to inspect the engine. This was not where he wanted to be. He shouldn't be fixing ships on Lylat's Outer Rim. He shouldn't be chained to the ground like this. He shouldn't –

"You really shouldn't treat yer customers like that."

Instinctively, Fox grabbed the blaster from his holster and spun around to face the door. His eyes widened as a familiar eye-patch-wearing face walked toward him.

"But then again… you don't belong here in the first place, do you?"


	5. A Proposition

"New character time! There are only a few new characters that I really need, so your opinions could decide who stays and goes. Still, I think future chapters will develop the two new additions in this chapter quite well.

"And Col. Ford has to be a permanent character."

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 5 – A Proposition**

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

Fox kept his blaster pointed straight at Wolf, who was looking back at him unfazed.

"You weren't meant to fix these things; you were meant to fly them."

"And shoot down scum like you. Yeah, I know."

"I didn't come here to fight."

"He's lyin' Fox," interrupted Falco, also pointing a gun at Wolf's head. "Let's just take 'im down. We got numbers on our side."

"Are you so sure about that, bird-brain?" Seemingly out of nowhere, Leon appeared beside Falco. The bird-brain spun around and aimed at the chameleon instead.

"You know Leon already." Despite being one trigger-pull away from death, Wolf kept his tone incredibly casual. "This fella's name is Pat." Wolf pointed his thumb over his shoulder, where a 7-foot tall grizzly bear had just walked up. Pat grunted and stared coldly down at Fox, who gulped audibly.

"3-on-2," grinned Leon.

"3-on-4," corrected Falco, gesturing upward. On a catwalk above stood a rather flimsy-looking robot, visibly rusted in many areas. Despite its appearance, the bot had no trouble holding and aiming a very large gatling-style gun at the bear. "ROB counts as two people. Ain't that right, ROB?"

"_Awaiting orders. Should I shoooooerrrrr…"_ ROB 64 suddenly collapsed onto the catwalk, revealing a very small-statured weasel behind him.

"4-on-2," the weasel quipped, tossing a small metal cube up and down. "This guy's fuel cell pops out pretty easy."

Wolf continued the introductions: "And this guy-"

"The name's Wally!" shouted Wally as he jumped down into the middle of the standoff. He pointed a finger at Fox's face: "Don't you forget it!"

Fox briefly considered whether the weasel's miniature size, high-pitched voice, or childish name was more ridiculous.

"Wally! Leon!" Wolf barked. "Get back here." The interruption seemed to affect Wolf's mood; he turned back to Fox. "I'll just cut to the chase. I'm here about a job."

"So there's a bounty on our heads!" shouted Falco.

"The job isn't to kill you," growled back Wolf, visibly annoyed. He pulled a disc-shaped object, roughly 3 inches in diameter, out of his pocket. "I'm delivering this."

"So I'm a repairman and you're a delivery boy," Fox pointed out. "That doesn't explain why you're still here."

"I'm delivering this clear to the next corner of the Outer Rim," Wolf half-shouted, desperate to finish a sentence. "And it needs to get there in a week. I need a faster ship… and that's where you come in."

Fox lowered his blaster slightly. He could guess the rest of Wolf's story. "I sold the Great Fox a long time ago. We needed the money to get this place started."

For the first time that Fox had ever heard, Wolf actually laughed. Then he pointed at the motorcycle Fox had been using for cover.

"You expect me to believe that you sold your father's gunship, but kept his bike?"

Fox raised the blaster again. "How do you know about this bike?" he demanded.

"Lucky guess," Wolf replied matter-of-factly. "Now where's the Great Fox? This disc may not look like much, but my client is willing to pay a fortune for it. And like you said: You need the money."

This didn't feel right. How many times had Fox fought with this man? How many times had they sworn to shoot each other out of the sky? And now this? Fox opened his mouth to speak –

"We get 50%," shouted Falco.

"40," shot back Wolf, "plus money for fuel."

"Deal!" Falco declared.

Fox let his mouth hang open out of bewilderment.


	6. Departure

"So this chapter mentions money, and for the life of me I can't remember what monetary units are used on the paycheck you get at the end of 64. When I was skimming through someone else's fanfic, I noticed he or she called the money 'credits', and I really liked that idea.

"Thank you, whoever wrote that!"

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 6 – Departure**

"What do you mean, 'deal'?" Fox shouted.

By now, nobody was pointing a gun at anybody else's face. Fox had pulled Falco into the repair shop's office to discuss – _loudly _discuss – Wolf's proposition. Leon was leaning against Mr. G's wrecked hovercar, visibly bored out of his mind. The two newest additions to the Star Wolf crew were inspecting the cluttered garage ("Kind of a crummy place for a hideout, ain't it?" "Urr." "Ha! Those numbskulls put this engine in all wrong!" "Hermf."). And Wolf turned the disc he was delivering over and over again in his hand, staring intently at the motorcycle in the corner.

"Don'tcha get it? If they wanted ta kill us they'd've done it when they walked in!"

"It's freakin' Star Wolf! And they know about the Great Fox, now! They're probably just waiting for us to bring it out so they can steal it."

"The only person who can drive that thing is ROB, and the only people ROB takes commands from are you 'n Peppy. Ain't that how yer dad set it up?"

Fox leaned against a wall and groaned. It didn't really make sense. Wolf wasn't the kind of person to ask for help… but he wasn't the kind of person to harm somebody through such indirect means, either.

"And another thing," Falco continued, casting a wary eye out the window to where Leon stood, "I've fought Lizard-boy enough times to know him like the back of my hand. He managed to sneak up behind me for the first time just a few minutes ago… and he would've killed me right then unless Wolf had told him not to. They really need our help.'

"…Maybe," Fox conceded. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what it felt like to fly an Arwing. "It sure would be nice to get outta here, wouldn't it?"

"Especially since there's money involved. No way in hell am I gonna be able to fix that car by tonight."

Fox smirked. "All right… just stay on your toes around them, okay?"

…

"Never would've imagined there was a place like this under that dingy little shop," Wolf said as he walked down a brightly-lit corridor.

"This whole repair-shop setup was one of Dad's old hideouts," explained Fox. He had agreed to lead Wolf down to where the Great Fox was being kept, so long as Falco and ROB came with them and the rest of Star Wolf stayed on the surface. "In case Star Fox ever needed to act against the military, he kept a few safe havens scattered throughout the Outer Rim..."

"On planets outside of the Cornerian Alliance. Not a bad idea," Wolf finished. The conversation ended when they came to a large set of doors, securely fastened and equipped with a DNA lock.

"All right," Falco began, "now we need to hear some details. Just what is th-"

"This mission is nothing more than a simple delivery," Wolf interrupted. "An old acquaintance of mine designs propulsion systems. The kind you see in most race-ships. But he's a paranoid SOB; he needs to send these blueprints," Wolf held up the disc, "to the only manufacturer in Lylat that he trusts, and the only delivery service in Lylat that he trusts…"

"Is Star Wolf," Fox concluded. "That doesn't explain the one-week deadline."

"…You don't understand how crazy this guy is." Wolf pointed out a small white dot on the otherwise entirely black disc. "This right here is a sort of time bomb. Only he and his manufacturer buddy know how to turn it off. In one week, this entire disc will be erased, just in case we screw up and let anyone else get ahold of it."

"And how much money are we talkin'?" Falco interjected, clearly interested only in that aspect of the deal.

Wolf grinned. "This guy is one hell of a designer. We're talking just over 2 million credits."

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" shouted Falco.

Fox was not quite as excited. Was this really the kind of job Star Wolf took up when they weren't on Andross's payroll? But as strong as his doubts were, all he could think about was how long it had been since his feet had left the ground. A faint feeling deep in his gut urged him to take the job. _Trust your instincts, eh?_

"All right. We'll take off in three hours."

Fox placed his hand onto a scanner, and a series of green As, Ts, Gs and Cs flashed across a nearby screen.

_DNA sequence confirmed. Welcome back, Fox._

_Good to __**be** back, thought Fox_. With several thundering clanks, the doors slowly began to separate. Behind them was an enormous room…

And inside lay the Great Fox.


	7. Sayonara Sekai

"Thanks to Stitch-Darkfold for SFRG's first review! I'd like to know what the rest of you think, so please review (even anonymously) if you have the time.

"I'll be the first to admit that this chapter isn't that exciting, so I'll post Chapter 8 at the same time. Until you get to that one, please enjoy my awkward reference to the 16-bit Arwing design.

"Also, to read these stories in their original format (I love , but I don't like what it does to my spacing), you can go over to 's fanfiction page. There are plenty of great writers over there!"

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 7 – Sayonara Sekai**

"Yer kidding me."

"Afraid not. This is it."

"These are relics! Artifacts!"

"Well they fly. And their G-Diffusers work… most of the time."

Falco was back on the surface and staring at three of the oldest ships he had ever seen. Two of them were original Katina Air-Force fighters, the model that revolutionized space combat by introducing the G-Diffuser… fifty years ago. The third was a massive Cornerian "Flying Tank", an at least thirty year-old fighter whose infamously complicated controls meant it required two pilots.

"These things couldn't win a fight against a mail-ship!" Falco shouted.

"Look, did you expect me to keep the Wolfen?" demanded Wolf, quite annoyed that the bird wouldn't stop shouting into his ears. "If you want, I could also hand out signed copies of my 'Wanted' poster to everyone I meet. And it's not like yours are much better." Wolf pointed to where a pair of rather blocky-looking ships sat twenty meters away.

"Those are completely different," defended Falco. "Yeah, we had to sell off our newer models, but those are two of the _original_ Arwings. They're not old: they're classics."

"Oh, yeah. Triangles sure are classic, no arguing against that."

Falco opened his beak to protest, but was interrupted when Fox walked towards him.

"ROB just finished running diagnostics. The Great Fox has seen better days, but it can make the trip in time. It'll be coming to the surface any minute now. We're lucky that Dad left us enough fuel…"

"So we'll be leaving soon?"

"HOLY CR-!" Falco nearly fell over in surprise. The air behind him laughed darkly, then slowly took the form of Leon, who was obviously very pleased with himself.

"Stealth camouflage," he explained when Falco tried to glare a hole through him.

"It doesn't cover your scent," Fox pointed out, completely composed, "and we can leave as soon as we get the ships loaded."

"All right! Wolf, I'll show you where you can dock your clunkers," joked Falco.

Wolf pointed to the Arwings once again: "Triangles!"

Simultaneously, Fox and Falco shouted back, "Classics!"

The argument ended with an earthquake, as a huge chunk of earth in the distance began sliding away. Amid a cacophony of mechanical clunks and clatters, the Great Fox slowly rose out of the ground.

…

"Are all the ships secured?"

"Yep! Just got the last one in. Y'know I was lookin' at that Arwing and-"

"Cabin pressure steady? Fuel cells started?"

"_Confirmed. Fusion core is operating at normal capacity._"

"-if I just moved the retro-rockets around I could fit another few blasters into th-"

"AND THE ROCKETS," Fox continued, trying in vain to keep Wally's voice out of his head.

"Rockets are almost ready," Falco reported. "Just another minute."

"- 'cuz I mean they'd never expect the laser to fire sideways and they'd be all like-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF-"

"WALLY!" roared Wolf.

"Yeesh, I get it, I get it." Wally hopped off the table where he had stood to be at Fox's eye level. "C'mon, Pat. We can tell when we ain't wanted, can't we?"

"Urmf." The two walked out of the Great Fox's Command Center.

"So, good help is hard to come by these days?" Fox asked Wolf, massaging his temples.

"Heh! Well, all the best pilots are quitting. No sense competing with the robots… But those two make a pretty good team, and Wally's mechanical skills are-"

"You let them join because they had their own ship, right?"

"… Yeah, something like that."

"_The main rocket's preparation is complete. Great Fox is ready for takeoff._"

Fox pushed a button labeled "intercom": "Okay, ROB, whenever you're ready, let 'er rip." He and the rest of the crew began securing themselves for takeoff.

"_Take off in 5… 4…_"

_Not exactly how I thought I'd be heading back to space_, thought Fox as he fastened himself into the Commander's seat.

"_3… 2…_"

_But as long as I keep an eye on those guys, it should be fine_. He glanced at where Wolf was sitting. Was he seeing things? Or did Wolf actually look… anxious?

"_1… 0…_"

The engines let out a bellow that echoed for miles, and the rockets ignited with a blinding white flash. The Great Fox fought furiously against the planet's gravity, finally lifting an inch off the ground. Then a foot. Then several feet.

And with a final triumphant roar, it soared into the sky.


	8. Miles B Ford

"If you're a fan of _FullMetal Alchemist_ and sports cars, you'll enjoy this part of my naming process:

"Colonel Mustang ----- Ford Mustang ------ Colonel Ford.

"His name also reminds me of _Brave New World_… Anyway, we're getting to the 'good' stuff. Lots of new characters are introduced in this chapter, including my favorite character of SFRG."

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 8 – Miles B. Ford**

_Four Cornerian Days later, at a Military Base on Macbeth_

Two men walked briskly down a long corridor. The first was a badger, roughly five and a half feet tall, who was staring down at the ground and mumbling to himself, as though rehearsing a speech. Following at his heels was a German Shepherd, standing a few inches over six feet; his eyes were focused straight ahead, his shoulders were held proudly back, and he kept each stride at nearly half its natural length so that he did not pass the man in front of him.

Both were dressed in the usual attire of Cornerian Army officers, save one detail: added to each man's uniform was a silver badge on his lapel with the word "CARD" written across it in bold, golden letters.

At the end of the hallway was a door labeled "Conference Room MB-8" that sat below a quietly-humming security camera. When they reached the door, the men stopped and saluted the camera.

"Colonel Miles Brock Ford, Assistant Director of the Cornerian Army Research Division," spoke the badger.

"Major Horand von Grafrath, Head of Security at CARD," added his companion.

"_Voice signatures verified,_" replied the camera. The door slid open to reveal a large, circular room. A table at the center covered most of the floor space, and it was surrounded by several chairs, but the CARD officers were the only two men present.

Ford sat down and looked up at a complicated machine that took up half of the ceiling. "We're ready," he said. "Begin the conference."

After a series of whirs, buzzes, and clicks, the machine revealed nine holographic projectors, each aimed at one of the vacant chairs. Within seconds the two men were joined by the slightly-transluscent images of nine other high-ranking officers.

The image directly across from Ford – an old hound with golden-brown fur – spoke first: "Welcome, Colonel. The Council has agreed to meet with you, but let us keep this brief."

Ford focused his dark eyes on one of the empty chairs. "Thank you, General Pepper," he replied. "May I ask where Lt. General Davis is tonight?"

"That ol' windbag?" laughed a hologram to Ford's right. The young coyote in the image was smiling broadly, and he spoke with a heavy drawl. Unfastening the top button of his uniform, he continued, "Davis is _much_ too important to bother with lil' matters like this 'un."

"What _Major _ General O'Brien means," growled an Alaskan Malamute to Pepper's right, as she glared at the coyote, "is that General Davis declined to attend."

"Well, shoot, Dolly. You don't have to get all uppity abou-"

"You will refer to me as Lieutenant General Griffin!"

"ANYWAY," half-shouted a mouse immediately to Ford's left. His shrill voice was perfect for interrupting irrelevant conversations. "Ninety percent of the Council is present. That is more than enough to proceed. Now, Colonel Ford," the mouse paused as he put on a pair of reading glasses and opened a small notebook, "you are applying for the position of Director of the Cornerian Army Research Division, correct?"

"Just say 'CARD', General Jerry," yawned O'Brien, slouching over in his chair.

Ford answered before another argument could break out: "That is correct, sir. As you know, former Director Johnson passed away due to a heart attack last month, and the Council has yet to replace him. As the most experienced of the Assistant Directors, as well as a loyal member of the Cornerian Army itself, I would like to nominate myself for the position."

A lion – whose aging mane had more silver than gold – immediately replied, "I second the nomination. Ford's work with the AIU has revolutionized warfare. None deserve this position more than he."

"It certainly makes sense," agreed Dolly Griffin.

"Fine by me," announced a rather tall hawk to her right.

O'Brien was clearly asleep.

Ford struggled to keep himself from grinning. _Even without Davis's help…_

"I oppose the nomination." Ford shot a surprised glance at the source of the voice. A quiet hatred boiled within him when he realized who the speaker had been. Peppy Hare looked Ford straight in the eye and continued, "The Director of CARD has never been a military officer. It has been our philosophy for years that the position belongs to a civilian scientist, to somebody whose focus lies in research, not warfare."

"Major General Hare is right," said Pepper, "while CARD is sponsored by the Army, it is not supposed to be controlled by it. Especially during such peaceful times as these." The general glanced at his watch and continued, "I would like to wrap this up. All for the nomination?"

The lion's hand went straight up. The mouse's hand went up halfway before he noticed what little support the motion had, at which point he rescinded his vote.

"Opposed?"

Six other generals, including Pepper, raised their hands; the mouse chose not to remain neutral; O'Brien snorted loudly in his sleep.

"I'm sorry, Colonel," continued Pepper, "but the Council has decided against your nomination."

"…Understood. Thank you for your time." Ford saluted the images as they blinked away. A vein in his forehead pulsed rapidly as he clenched his teeth. Von Grafrath, who had stood silently behind his superior officer the entire time, finally spoke up:

"Shall we proceed with Plan B?"

Ford glared hatefully at the chair where Peppy's image had been mere seconds ago. "It would appear we have no choice…

"Find Fox McCloud."


	9. Of Pirates and Eyepatches

"I should really draw a map of what I think the Lylat System looks like… When I mention the 'Outer Rim', I'm referring to a band of small planets at the outer edge of the system. Pluto (RIP) would be in the 'Outer Rim' of our solar system, in that sense.

"Maybe I heard 'Outer Rim' from Star Wars? Wars… Fox… close enough. I think I'll pair ROB up with R2-D2, next."

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 9 – Of Pirates and Eyepatches**

_Meanwhile, in the Lylat System's Outer Rim_

Fox McCloud tapped impatiently on the arm of his chair. _One more day,_ he thought. _One more day. One more day. One more –_

"Where the hell is my sandwich!" shouted Falco from the Great Fox's kitchen. Fox groaned loudly.

"What're ya lookin' at me fer? I didn't take yer stinkin' food!"

"Oh, really, Wally?! Well, then I guess it just got up 'n walked away!"

"Hahaha! I guess it did, Einstein!"

"Wait, wha… Leon, you son of a-!"

The past four days had all been the same. Despite Falco's eagerness to work with Star Wolf, he absolutely refused to get along with them. As a result, Fox had already exhausted the Great Fox's supply of aspirin.

_But it's almost over,_ thought Fox as a floating sandwich flew through the room. _We should be at the destination in 22 hours and_ – he glanced at the navigation computer when Falco burst into the room to chase after Leon – _33 minutes._

"Knock it off, will ya?" roared Wolf as he walked into the room. He grabbed at the air near the sandwich and caught Leon by the arm. "We can't afford to let our guard down like this."

Fox's eyes narrowed. "You keep saying that. Why should we be on our guard during a simple delivery mission?"

Wolf grabbed the sandwich out of Leon's now-visible hand and tossed it to Falco. "You should _never_ let your guard down, pup," he replied unconvincingly.

As if to emphasize Wolf's point, the room was suddenly filled with the deafening blare of the Great Fox's alarm.

"_Five unidentified vessels are approaching the Great Fox at high velocity,"_ warned ROB over the intercom. Sure enough, Fox saw five red dots suddenly appear on the radar projection, rocketing toward the Great Fox from the 3 o'clock direction.

_Shit… I was afraid this would happen,_ Fox thought to himself.

"We should engage them," decided Wolf. "A ship moving that fast can't be friendly."

_That bastard… And to think I actually believed him._

"Itf probahly nuffin," said Falco as he gulped down his meal.

"No…" replied Fox quietly. He looked Wolf straight in the eye. "You've been lying to us this entire time, haven't you?"

"… What do you mean?" Wolf's voice was hesitant and nearly devoid of denial.

"There is no 'race-ship engine designer'," Fox answered, now staring at the four red dots. "And that white mark on the disc isn't a self-destruct mechanism… It's a tracking device, isn't it?"

The alarm stopped blaring just as Fox finished talking, leaving the room in a very awkward silence. Wolf and Fox stared coldly at each other. Falco held his sandwich in his beak and placed one hand on his blaster, watching Leon's movements closely. Five minutes seemed to pass before Wolf finally pulled out the disc and resumed the conversation.

"This belongs to the 'Black Star' Pirates. I've been using it to lure them in." He snapped the disc in two. "They may be a small group, but they've done quite a bit of damage around the Outer Rim, and the bounty on their heads is-"

"Just over 2 million credits," growled Fox. "So you decided to use us to help take them down?"

"Well, either we stay here and argue while they blow up the Great Fox… or we go out there and make some money." Deciding the conversation was over, Wolf turned and headed toward the docking bay; Wally and Leon followed.

_Dammit,_ thought fox. _Why the hell did I trust him in the first place?_ _But there's no point thinking about that now…_

"ROB… prepare the Arwings."


	10. Battle!

"Time for Chapter 10, in which I attempt to explain how somersaults would work in outer space.

"I don't care how many times you tell me to try a somersault, Peppy. If there's no air, and there's no propulsion system on the bottom of my Arwing, it just ain't possible."

- B McC, Physics Major

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 10 – Battle!**

"I can't believe this!" exclaimed Falco as he and Fox raced to their Arwings. "I knew Wolf was insane, but I didn't think he was stupid! What kinda moron decides to catch somebody by letting them ambush him?!"

"Save it for later! Right now we have to focus on getting rid of the pirates!"

The two hopped into their Arwings and closed the cockpits. _I really wish I had one of the newer Arwings,_ thought Fox, _but I guess this will have to do…_

"ROB! We're ready! Launching in 3… 2… 1…"

The two members of Star Fox blasted out of the Great Fox and toward the fray, where Wolf and his team had already engaged the pirates.

"Oi, look!" shouted one of the pirates over the open channel. "O'Donnell brought some friends!"

"We are _not _friends," Fox growled darkly.

"It's about time!" shouted Wolf. "Your Arwings are faster than our ships, so-"

"You ain't givin' the orders here, fuzzball!" Falco shouted back. "Yo! Pirates! Looks like it's five-on-five, so how about we split up the fun?"

"A laughable suggestion," crooned one of the pirates. "Men, don't break formation. We're taking them out one by one."

"I'd like to see you try!" Fox shot a bomb into the center of the pirates' formation, forcing them to split apart before it took them out. "Falco! You take the one that went right! I've got the one that headed up!"

"Roger that!"

"Leon, you take the bottom one. Pat and Wally, you go left. I'll get the last one," Wolf ordered. "Let's take 'em out!"

…

"Not too shabby! I'm surprised you can keep up with me in that piece of junk!" Fox hit his target with a series of lasers, which barely damaged the ship's armor. "But let's see you handle this!" Almost instantly, the ship reversed direction and headed straight for Fox's Arwing.

"Crap!" exclaimed Fox as he swerved out of the pirate's path. _That armor is something else… if he crashes into me, he'll be the only one to survive. And what's up with that acceleration?_

"Too slow!" Having reversed direction once again, the pirate fired several lasers at Fox. "I've got the quickest ship in Lylat, pal! You're toast!"

"Just shut up already!" yelled Fox as his Arwing barrel-rolled, deflecting the attacks. "Falco, how's it going on your end?"

"Could be better," replied the avian. "But it's nothin' I can't handle. This guy's only a bit better than Slippy was."

"Focus on your own fight, dammit!" Fox's opponent tried to clip his wing by running straight into it, but Fox dodged in the nick of time.

_It's too open out here – _the pirate pulled another 180 and came straight for Fox – _He's got me beat on maneuverability, so I just need to change the playing field._ Fox dodged a flurry of lasers, but scraped the bottom of his Arwing against the pirate's ship.

"Almost gotcha that time!" laughed the pirate. Fox ignored him and flew toward the Great Fox. "Hey! No runnin' away, ya bastard!"

But Fox didn't hear him. Fox didn't hear anything except his pulse, as it beat more and more rapidly. Adrenaline surged through his veins. As he tightened his grip on the yoke and steered toward the Great Fox's head, Fox felt the flow of time nearly come to a complete halt…

_This feeling… I missed this._

Fox flipped his Arwing around so that he could look up through his cockpit and see the top of the Great Fox's Command Center. His enemy followed close behind. Pulling up on the yoke, Fox activated a rocket on the Arwing's belly that supplied just enough centrifugal force to somersault the fighter around its own mothership. At the same time, he pushed down on the trigger button to charge a laser. And when he had completed a full 360-degree loop, the enemy pirate was directly in front of him.

Fox smirked and released the trigger. "See ya."

And the pirate disappeared in a blinding green flash.


	11. Wanted

"**Let me know what you think!** I'm trying to make my writing more descriptive while simultaneously keeping my word count in check.

"I'll try and post Chapter 12 either today or early tomorrow. It all depends on how much 'real-life' work I get done in the next couple hours…"

- B McC

* * *

Star Fox : Re-Genesis

Chapter 11 – Wanted

Wolf saw the bright green flash that signaled Fox's victory out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't help but grin. _A bit reckless, don't you think?_ _But it's good to see that last two years haven't left you rusty._

"You bastards…" sneered Wolf's opponent. "First you stole the designs for my flagship, now you've killed my first mate… Your life ends here!" The Black Stars' captain sped his ship straight toward Wolf.

"Do you really think so?" Wolf skillfully dodged the lasers coming his way and shot off the captain's left wing. "Just look around you, buddy. It's time to give up."

The captain watched in shock as Falco finally outmaneuvered his opponent and took him out with a bomb. Then another pirate fell to the heavy firepower of Wally and Pat's ship. When Leon finally tricked his opponent into crashing against a drifting satellite, only one Black Star was left. In utter disbelief, the captain slowly released his controls and forlornly announced, "I surrender."

…

_The next day, on the Outer Rim planet Lear_

Fox was leaning against the shadiest-looking building in the shadiest-looking town on the shadiest-looking planet he had ever seen. The outer walls of every structure in sight were built with an odd mixture of warped, rotting wood and rusty tin sheets. A strange, sulfurous odor hung heavily in the air, forcing the Star Fox commander to breathe as infrequently as he could manage. He had wanted to abandon Star Wolf and head back to the repair shop after taking care of the pirates, but Falco insisted they at least accept their 40% of the bounty.

After the Black Stars' captain surrendered, Wolf had told them that the "manufacturer" he had lied about was actually a sort of black market bounty post. For just a small fee, they could collect a reward from the manager of the post, who would then turn in the criminal to the Army to collect the real reward. Everybody wins… except for the pirates.

The bell above the post's door rang as Wolf walked out, counting a large stack of bills. He handed half the stack to Fox without looking him in the eye. "Here. You guys take 50%. It's only fair."

"Fair," snapped Fox, grabbing the bills, "is knowing what kind of battle you're walking into. We didn't exactly have the resources to fight a bunch of pirates."

"So you would have refused the job if I had been honest. So I had to lie," Wolf reasoned.

"So you should have left us out of it!"

"Hey, you're alive aren't you?!" Wolf shouted. The two seemed poised to break into a fist fight, but Wolf slowly calmed down and backed off. "Besides," he added, "you can't tell me it didn't feel good to get back in the game."

Fox couldn't respond to that. He couldn't admit it was true.

"You and I are more alike than you'll admit, Fox."

"You and I are nothing ali-"

"We're fighters," grinned Wolf, gazing into the sky. "We might have our different reasons, but at the end of the day, we live for the thrill of battle. We're not the type of people to stay cooped up in crappy repair shops."

Before he could retort, Fox noticed Falco and the rest of the group had returned from the supply shop. "Yo, Fox!" shouted Falco. "We got enough fuel cells to get us clear to – Hey! Lemme touch the money!"

"Here." Fox tossed Falco the bills and started walking down the street. He turned back to Wolf. "We're leaving. You don't need the Great Fox anymore, do you?"

"…No, we'll be fine," Wolf replied. He struggled visibly to get the next words out: "…Thanks."

Ignoring him, Fox continued down the street, stepping carefully over puddles of what he hoped was water.. _We'll just get in the Arwings, fly back up to the Great Fox, and be done with them forever,_ he thought.

"Fox, walk faster. Fuzzball screwed up and gave us 50%, so we should get out before he notices."

_Done with Star Wolf. Done with pirates. …Done with flying._

"Woah, what's this about?"

"Huh?" Fox mumbled, clearly not paying attention. Falco pointed to what looked like a tank on legs walking down a street to their right. It stood roughly 10 feet high and was using its two long arms to lift a pile of rubble off the ground. Its armor was pure white and bore the Cornerian Army insignia; Fox also noticed the all-too-familiar label "AIU" on its back. _What are they doing in the Outer Rim?_

"I guess we should warn Wolf that the Army's here. He shouldn't stick around," said Falco.

"Why?" replied Fox coldly. "He's a criminal. And it's not like he warned _us_ about the pirates."

Falco stopped in his tracks and glared at Fox. "This is a lot of money he just gave us. An' it's not like you to just leave someone hangin' like that."

"… Fine," Fox conceded. "We'll let him know." They turned around and started to walk back, but one of the tanks marched out of a side alley and blocked their path.

"_Identify yourselves," _it commanded. Somehow, the robotic, droning voice had a hint of bloodlust.

Fox stared at it in confusion for a moment before replying, "Fox McCloud, Commander of the Star Fox mercenary team." Only after he finished did he realize that his title didn't really exist anymore.

Falco was next: "The name's Falco Lombardi. What's it to ya?"

The robot pointed its arm – which seemed to double as a rather deadly gun – at the two of them.

_"Reporting to HQ. Team Star Fox apprehended._

_ "Will now proceed with elimination."_


	12. Escape!

"Straight to the action! No time for author's notes!"

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 12 – Escape!**

"Elimi-what now?" asked a very bewildered Falco.

The robot's right arm began to emit an ear-piercing squeal, and a charged laser began to appear at its end. Fox could feel the heat from the sphere of energy searing his whiskers; but he couldn't move a muscle, he couldn't avert his eyes from the deadly blue light… he couldn't even think. Why was a Cornerian weapon about to kill him?

Suddenly a bright red light shot out of an alley and crashed into the arm, taking out most of the robot's right side and stopping the laser. The blast knocked Fox and Falco back about ten feet. Fox hit the ground hard, then slowly turned to see the blurry image of his saviors.

"Run, you idiots!" shouted Wolf. Beside him was Pat, holding an enormous ion cannon on one shoulder. "What, do you _want_ to die?!"

Falco snapped out of it first. He grabbed Fox by the collar and started running toward Wolf, dragging his commander after him. "What's goin' on?!" he shouted. About a hundred meters down the street, he saw another group of white robots had started to run towards them.

"I don't know," admitted Wolf. "I can see why they'd want to kill _us_… But you guys? You're like boy scouts!"

"Thanks," said Falco dryly as he made it to the alley. "Yo! Fox! You're kinda heavy!"

"…Sorry. I think I can walk," he mumbled quietly. A combination of confusion and shock from the impact had left him in a daze.

"Walkin' ain't gonna cut it. Pat!" ordered Wolf.

"Hrmph!" replied the grizzly bear. He picked up Fox by the back of his jacket and swung him over his left shoulder in one fluid motion. Falco snatched Fox's blaster out of its holster.

"I'm gonna borrow this, buddy!"

"Jus' make sure you… you…" Fox blacked out entirely.

"Where are Lizard-boy and that really annoying one?" asked Falco. The grizzly shot him a threatening look. "… I mean Wally. Where are Leon and Wally?" Falco corrected himself.

"Don't worry about them. They went ahead to secure the ships." Wolf answered as the three of them sprinted down the alley. "I don't think these… machines (or whatever they are) knew we were here. They just happened to be patrolling and found us. So they shouldn't know where we put the ships."

"That doesn't make sense," panted Falco as they turned a corner. Two more robots were right in front of them.

"_Halt. You are under arre-_" Pat fired a stream of ions straight through the middle of one, while Falco brought down the other with a barrage of lasers.

"Why would they be looking for us? Or _you_ for that matter? Even you haven't done anything in two years!"

"Should we stop and think about this or just get back to the ships?!" yelled Wolf, blasting the head off a robot that had crashed down behind them from on top of a building. He pulled out a radio: "Wally! What's your status?"

"I'm not too bad. I think I might've pulled somethin' on the way over here, though, 'cuz I really didn't have time ta stretch and-"

"ARE THE SHIPS SECURE?!" screamed Wolf into the receiver.

"Jeez! I think I'm deaf now! Yeah, yeah, the ships are fine. Seems like the robots were only in the town."

"We'll be there in a second! Get the engines warmed up!"

They were now being followed by four of the robots, all of whom were aiming charged lasers straight at them. Wolf pulled out a small shield generator and threw it backwards. "Take cover!" he shouted. But the robots did not fire, instead powering down their lasers and lowering their arms.

"_Risk of civilian casualties too high. Cease fire._"

_What the…_ Wolf looked back and noticed that several people were looking out of their windows to see what was causing all the commotion. _So if they had hit my shield generator, the lasers could have deflected and taken out a civilian. But taking out Star Fox is okay…?_

"Haha! Lizard-boy's not too useless after all!" Wolf snapped back into focus after hearing Falco and looked up at the sky. Leon's ship was soaring toward them, and with a few well-aimed lasers, he took out the pursuing robots.

"All right, more of them will be here any second now. Let's hurry up and get to the ships!" Wolf ordered. _We'll figure out what the hell is going on here later._

…

Billions of miles away, aboard a Cornerian Army flagship, Major Horand von Grafrath walked into the private quarters of General Jeremy Thompson. "We just received word that the enemy has been found on planet Lear," he announced in a very cool, calm tone. "But we were unable to apprehend them. It would seem that they have joined forces with Wolf O'Donnell of Star Wolf."

"Star Wolf, eh?" squeaked a mouse sitting in the corner. He readjusted his glasses and jotted something down into a notebook. "That certainly complicates matters."

"…No…" growled the room's other occupant. "You're wrong, Thompson."

Miles B. Ford grinned widely, his eyes shining with ferocity.

"This is _perfect_."


	13. Questions

"I'm about to hit mid-term season, and I'm running behind on my writing, so there will probably only be a few updates in the next two weeks.

"But here's number 13!"

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 13 – Questions**

Fox's Arwing was being enveloped by fire. The heat was unbearable; just grabbing the controls burnt his hands badly. All around him was laughter.

"If I go down…" an ominous voice echoed. The flames parted to reveal Andross's enormous face right in front of Fox. The madman opened his mouth, and thousands of black orbs flew out and surrounded the Arwing.

"No… No…NO!" Fox woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. _There was no fire… there was no Andross… just a bed… and the ceiling… and… Wolf?_

"Look who's back among the living," chuckled Wolf, sitting at the side of the bed. He was reading something from a handheld computer. "Having bad dreams, are we?"

"Shut up," Fox groaned. "Where am I?"

"Did you really hit your head that hard? This is your own ship's infirmary."

Fox looked around at his surroundings. Wolf was right. He was clearly inside the Great Fox. But…

"What happened to all those robots? Er, I mean, to us? Or…" Fox started feeling lightheaded.

"Calm down, calm down," Wolf sighed. "We're safe. The robots are crazy. I don't know why, and it looks like the military doesn't even know it happened." He pointed to the handheld. "Leon managed to hack into their database. There's nothing here about robots stationed on Lear. And you'll be glad to hear that you're not really a wanted criminal." He grabbed a canteen from a table behind him and tossed it to Fox. "Here, ROB says you need some water."

Fox took a long drink, and the soothing feeling of cold water against his parched throat helped level his mind slightly. "So… the robots malfunctioned?"

"That's the only explanation that makes sense."

"But it doesn't make _any_ sense!" Fox protested. "That thing clearly said 'Team Star Fox apprehended'. It knew what it was doing."

"Well, just report it to the Army when you're feeling better," said Wolf as he stood up. "Hey, if you're lucky, they'll pull the plug on the program. Without their competition, you might even get your old job back."

"…No… something's wrong." Fox started climbing out of bed. "We're going to the nearest Cornerian Army outpost. I need to know what's going on here."

"You sure you should be standing up?" asked Wolf. Fox briefly considered whether he was having hallucinations, because his eyepatch-ed rival looked genuinely concerned.

"I'll be fine. Where's Falco?"

…

"You're alive!" shouted Falco as Fox walked into the common room. He and the rest of Star Wolf were gathered around a table playing cards. "Just in time, too. Leon's terrible at this game, so you can be my partner instead."

Fox knew by now that he had to speak up before Leon had a chance to start an argument. "Where's the nearest Army outpost?"

Falco looked surprised. "Why? We're not turning these guys in, are we?"

"Did you forget about the whole robot thing?!" Fox shouted. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

"They went crazy and shot at us, but we escaped. With 2 million credits. That's what happened."

Fox just glared back at Falco.

"All right, all right. We're not too far from one of their space station outposts. We could be there in about an hour."

"Then let's pay them a visit," decided Fox. "Someone has to know what's going on."

…

_Some time later…_

Major General Michael O'Brien had his feet propped up on his desk and his cap pulled over his eyes. _Gotta love space station duty_, he thought to himself. _Not a single thing to do for two whole weeks._

His pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. "Aww…" he groaned, pulling up his cap, "who is it?"

"Colonel Watson, sir."

"Then go away," mumbled the esteemed Cornerian officer, pulling his cap back over his eyes.

"I think you'll want to hear this, sir."

"You thought wrong. Go away."

Colonel Thomas H. Watson – a tall, muscular Bengal tiger – sighed heavily. He raised his right foot and, with one strong kick, knocked the door clear off its hinges. The surprise knocked O'Brien clear off his chair.

"The Great Fox has been sighted, sir," Watson continued in the same tone as before.

O'Brien blinked a few times. "Where?"

"Right outside the station. Fox McCloud himself asked permission to dock."

"Well why di'n'tcha just say so, Tom?" O'Brien picked his hat up off the ground and walked out the door.

"A man like that deserves a proper welcome party."


	14. Answers?

"Sorry about that hiatus! I was flash-flooded by college work, but I managed to avoid drowning. (Bonus points to anyone who can tell me which Metal Gear character I just quoted.)

"Anywho, I'm on spring break now. Here's chapter 14, and I think both 15 and 16 will be out within a week. Oh, and happy belated St. Patrick's Day!"

- B McC

* * *

**Star Fox : Re-Genesis**

**Chapter 14 – Answers?**

"Right this way, Mr. McCloud," chirped the overly-peppy canary that greeted Fox at the docking bay. The decorations on her uniform identified her as a Second Lieutenant, but Fox guessed by her constant grin and strawberry-scented perfume that she had never served outside of an office.

"Erm… right, thanks," Fox replied. _I guess it really isn't "Commander" McCloud anymore…_ "Where are we going, exactly? I just wanted to speak with one of the officers."

"Major General O'Brien personally requested your presence," happily replied the guide. After placing her palm on the lock to the docking bay door, she led Fox through a short corridor and into a brightly-lit and very crowded lobby. Computer monitors lined the walls, each displaying its own planet and a slew of complicated figures. The din of some dozen unrelated conversations echoed across the room. And of the nearly hundred men and women walking busily across the floor, all but Fox were proudly wearing crimson Cornerian Army uniforms.

"We understand Mr. Lombardi is also aboard the ship?" Fox could barely hear his host, but he had been expecting this question anyway.

"Yes, but… uh, he's sick. Very sick. Some kind of bird flu, I think." Fox's heart stopped when he realized his guide was also a bird and might ask for details, but she didn't seem to care.

"So he won't be joining us, then? That's too bad. Please follow me."

…

Aboard the Great Fox, Falco was watching several security monitors at once. One of them, labeled "Cargo Bay", showed all four members of Star Wolf sitting around an open crate. Falco pushed the intercom button: "Don't worry guys. Doesn't look like they're gonna inspect the ship. Just sit tight for a while."

Leon looked straight at the security camera and made an insulting gesture.

…

"Here we are." The canary stopped in front of the entrance to the station's mess hall. "I must return to my desk, but the Major General is waiting for you inside. Have a pleasant day!"

Though relieved to have lost such unnaturally cheerful company, Fox felt dread wash over him as he reached for the mess hall's doors. _If those machines were really after us… Then this whole thing could be a trap._ Glancing backwards to make sure he had an exit path and placing one hand on his blasters holster, Fox cautiously pushed open the doors.

"There 'e is! Look at 'im boys! Fox McCloud in the flesh!"

The entire mess hall erupted in cheers. In an instant, Fox was swarmed on all sides by excited soldiers.

"What was Venom like?!"

"Umm… well…"

"Did you really take on the Area 6 fleet by yourself?!"

"My team was there, but…"

"Hey! I saw you at Katina!"

"Yeah, that was a good bat-"

"Where's Falco?"

"Where's Slippy?"

"Who's Slippy?"

"Now, now, men! Let the man through." A tiger, standing head and shoulders above almost the entire crowd, walked through and shook Fox's hand. "The name's Colonel Watson, Commander. It's great to see you."

"Uh… thanks." Fox didn't know what to think. He had indeed expected to be ambushed, but not by praises. Over two years ago, this kind of treatment was the norm. But after what happened at Titan… "Your men obviously didn't hear how the robots saved my ass," he added humbly.

"HAHAHA!" roared a voice at the front of the room. Fox looked up to see a coyote about Wolf's age in an unbuttoned general's uniform standing on a table and waving a flagon of beer around. "Who cares about them tin cans? Tell 'im our motto, boys!"

The entire room cheered in unanimous agreement:

"%&!# THE ROBOTS!!!"

"… I'm terribly sorry," groaned Watson, "but that man is our commanding officer."

"Haha! Seems like a fun guy!" Fox had begun to loosen up slightly. After two years in exile, this was pretty nice…

…

_Aboard General Thompson's Flagship, just outside Cornerian Airspace_

"Yes. Yes, understood. Thank you." Von Grafrath turned off his radio.

"Well…?" asked Ford impatiently.

"This went more smoothly than we could have anticipated, sir. He's aboard Space Outpost 13. One of our moles working for Major General O'Brien just confirmed the information."

General Thompson laughed wildly. "Oh! That's great! The preparations are already in place, then? It's a tad early to start that phase of the operation, but we can't pass up this opportunity."

Ford nodded in agreement. It was almost too easy…

"Let's just hope the idiot coyote doesn't survive."


End file.
